Covid-19: São Paulo Will Suspend Entire Classrooms If Any Students Test Positive

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Yesterday, September 1st, the São Paulo government published a number of resolutions in the Official Gazette for the return to school classes in the state, one of which determines that should a student test positive for the novel coronavirus, the classes he/she attends will be suspended for a period of 14 days.

“If a student tests positive for Covid-19 [the disease caused by the novel coronavirus], all students in his/her class should remain in isolation for 14 days and not attend school”, reads the notice.

However, if it is only a suspect case, the class may attend school, “because there are other respiratory infections that resemble the Covid-19 symptoms.”

If a teacher or an education servant has tested positive, all individuals he/she has had contact with within one meter or for at least 15 minutes will be tracked and directed to seek the public health system.

Another resolution is that students and professionals in the area of education who are part of the high-risk group for the disease will not be able to return to in-person lessons at this time.

Suspended classes

Because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, in-person lessons have been suspended throughout the state since March. Expected for October 7th, the official restart of classes will only occur if 80 percent of the state is in the yellow phase for 28 consecutive days and the remainder for 14 days in the same phase. The return will be gradual and, in the first stage, will reach up to 35 percent of students.

The measure will apply to both public and private schools in São Paulo.

As of September 8th, however, reinforcement and rehabilitation activities may be restarted, but only as an option and authorized for schools in regions that have been in the yellow phase of the São Paulo Plan for at least 28 days. In this case, only 20 percent of the enrolled students are allowed to attend, and classes can only be restarted after consulting the school community.

The municipalities will have the autonomy to decide if they will follow the state government’s schedule, but will not be able to restart in-person classes before such periods. However, they may decide not to restart school this year.

According to the resolution published in the state’s Official Gazette, students with no access to technology will be given priority to return to classes starting on September 8th in order to follow online lessons as well as students in the 1st and 2nd grades of elementary school, in basic literacy classes, or students in the 5th and 9th grades of elementary and middle school, in addition to those in the 3rd (final) year of high school.

In addition to the mandatory wearing of masks inside the school, students and employees will have a temperature check each time they enter the school premises.

According to the State Department of Education, a contactless thermometer will be used to this end. If the temperature is above 37.5 ºC, the student or servant will be instructed to return home and seek medical care. The entrance and exit of schools will also need to be organized to prevent crowds, and recess breaks will be taken in shifts.

Payment

Also on Tuesday, the State Education Secretariat released a statement advising that teachers in the state network who increase their workload to engage in classroom activities in schools, as of September 8th, will be paid an additional amount over their regular salary. However, the Secretariat has not published the amount of this increase.

Source: Agência Brasil